Man shot dead during police operation in Coventry

A 31-year-old man has been shot dead by armed officers at an address in Coventry.

Two more men were detained at the scene following an intelligence-led operation in Burnaby Road on Friday night, West Midlands Police said.

Witnesses described seeing a large number of officers in the area, including a significant number of police vehicles.

Officers executed a warrant at an address in the street at around 6.20pm

“One man was shot and pronounced dead at the scene while two other men were detained by officers,” the force said.

Fire engineer Karl Lolley, a father-of-two who lives behind the police cordon, said he heard “four or five” gunshots after witnessing officers descend on the home.

“I saw three or four armed police cars turn up. Five to six armed officers got out and they went in the front door. There was some gunshots,” the 39-year-old told the Press Association.

“The next thing you know there’s more police arriving and they cordon off the area.

“They carry a person out on a stretcher, they put him in an ambulance – the lights on the ambulance were flashing for about half an hour as they were working on him.

“Then they turned the lights off and they drove off slowly. Obviously they pronounced him dead.”

A large number of police cars, along with emergency service vehicles, were reported in the area of Burnaby Road, a largely residential street north of the city centre, in the wake of the incident.

Locals were told to go indoors as a section of the street was closed and “over 17 police cars (and) armed police” arrived.

Adam Court, 26, owner of the local media network Complete Traffic based nearby, told PA: “We heard a lot of sirens heading towards the far end of the street and traffic coming to a swift halt.

“The road is plagued with a history of serious collisions so this was nothing out of the ordinary.

“But it was the sheer number of police officers at the scene that caused initial concern.”

The area around the scene remained cordoned off on Saturday morning.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) confirmed it has opened an inquiry after West Midlands Police reported the fatality during a “pre-planned operation”.

IOPC regional director Amanda Rowe: “Our investigation is in its very early stages and we will be working hard to establish what happened. My thoughts are with the man’s family and all of those affected by this incident.

“The next steps will be to view the body worn video footage and establish if there are any local CCTV recordings. At this stage we are looking at the circumstances of the incident and all officers remain witnesses to our investigation.”

The man’s next-of-kin have been informed.